Under Duress
by whalerider
Summary: A glimpse into the not-so-fractured personality of Tobias Henkel, and what REALLY transpired. Was Raphael merely a personality, or a person in his own right? Spoilers for "The Big Game" and "Revelations". Read? Review? Both? Pretty Please?
1. Chapter 1

-1I never meant for any of this to happen. Indeed, I did not expect it to happen. After all, I was stronger than this frail, disturbed boy. But I forgot one important detail: the human capacity for evil, especially when such evil comes from a mind warped by the darkness.

My duty was to observe, to abide within this frail fleshly form, in the psyche of a boy troubled by what humans call "multiple personality disorder" and twisted by his father's misplaced religious fervor. I never dreamed (I should say I never _thought_, as my kind do not sleep and thus do not dream in the human manner) that it would come to this. Yet here I was, here we stood ("we" meaning the body inhabited by myself, Tobias, and his father), over the helpless FBI agent. The nauseating stench of the darkness clouded what I interpreted as something akin to a spiritual sense of smell, blocking the joy and wisdom of the Divine from my…I suppose one could call it a heart, if one were inclined to poetic turns of speech.


	2. Chapter 2

-1The sickening memories of the murders raced through my mind, each replaying out in heartbreaking detail over and over and over again. I had never intended these atrocities…if I had ever suspected…if I had just been more aware…but I was not. I had softly counseled the boy, hoping to drive away the darkness from his mind. I had told him that humans were sinners, but that his father's sins should have no influence on his own behavior. I had told him that his father paid dearly for his crimes.

Little did I realize that his father was not truly dead, but only hidden from me. Demons never die. Like my kind, they only die in the flesh, their spiritual selves continuing on as they originally were…and one particular demon, who in the flesh had sired this wide-eyed innocent, was still here. He whispered and cajoled and threatened, twisting my words before they ever laid themselves on the heart of this sweet child. What young Tobias Henkel heard, instead of my gentle encouragement, was a message of hatred, a battering and insistent drive to bring wrathful vengeance upon his fellow man…a message to cleanse the earth of sin so that sinners would pay dearly for their crimes.

Then the darkness came. It overtook me when I was open and defenseless, caging me and stowing me away in a dark, tortured recess of the boy's mind. I watched helplessly as the demon bullied and pushed, swore right left and center, until young Tobias was merely a whimpering pile of consciousness as trapped as I was. I watched in horror as knives slit through skin and arteries. I listened to the demon telling his son that this was what I wanted him to accomplish, that this was what God wanted.

Unable to stand this blasphemy, I howled in rage and threw myself against the bars of my cage, battering myself hand, foot, wing, and head against the bands of darkness that surrounded me. The only reward I received for my efforts was yet another wave of spiritual nausea. Realizing that my efforts were in vain, I again reached out to the innocent and broken human trapped with me, quietly bolstering and reassuring him…and encouraging him to rebel. I looked on with pride and a disgusting amount of petty satisfaction as he fought and debated with his demonic father, throwing verses of Holy Scripture out with the skill and ease of a priest teaching catechism at Sunday school. Tobias boldly quoted Luke 15:10 in the defense of the young woman who sat bound and weeping nearby. "I say unto you there is joy," he recounted, "in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." His spirit shone with conviction and truth, making his voice ring out in the small and stuffy barn. Our victory was all too short-lived as the demon flew into a black rage at the boy's contradiction and unleashed his dogs. I forced myself to watch the gruesome display that followed, swearing to recount this unto my brethren and unto the Most High when I freed myself, that justice might be brought down upon this unholy creature.

For a short time, the demon retreated back into our shared mind, most likely to seethe over how close he came to defeat.

I pressed myself up against the black bars of my cage, my face glowing with holy vengeance. "So, how did it feel, dark one, having the Word thrown at you like that? The boy is strong. He will overcome you eventually and when he does I will be freed…and when _that_ happens, I will hunt you down and throw you back into the Pit in the most ignoble and humiliating way possible…if your kind can even still feel humiliation, shameful beast."

The ugly creature hissed and spat, his eyes black and empty pits as he reinforced the shadowy bars of my cell. Apparently he took my vow of holy retribution under consideration. "Don't you understand?" he chuckled, his voice still possessing the country twang of his former body. "The boy listens to me, as well he should." He barked in a short burst of wicked laughter. "You of all people should understand, angel. 'Honor thy father and thy mother', isn't that one of the commands given to these stupid creatures by your master?"

I threw back my head and laughed bitterly. "Father? You are no more father to this boy than I am akin to a squid. A father raises his son in the ways of the Lord, on the shining path to righteousness. You have raised this innocent lamb in the ways of _your_ master, not mine. He obeys you only out of fear and ignorance, not out of love or loyalty."

Snorting in disgust, the demon eyed me keenly. "Be that as it may, he follows me nevertheless. The boy is mine by blood and I find him useful for the time being." Leering, he stuck his foul visage into my direct line of vision. He was so close, I could see the individual serrations on his foul fangs. "Time to go to sleep, Raphael."

I growled as the dark bands tightened around me, pinning my wings and arms to my sides and plunging me into nothingness.


	3. Chapter 3

-1When I awoke, I was alone. Tobias and his father were gone…presumably, the demon had taken him off to a private corner of this dark mental universe to administer a rather sound beating.

A young man (nay, a boy, for he was barely out of what humans refer to as "the teenage years") sat slumped in a chair, making small whimpering noises through bloodied lips. Faint stubble scattered itself across his upper lip and chin, and silky brown hair hung over his eyes, fluttering with each painful breath. What had the wretched beast done to him?

Realizing that, for the time being, I had this frail young body to myself, I pushed against my dark bonds; they gave way enough for me to free my arms and wings, but left my legs and body uncomfortably constricted. I forced myself to stumble and hop my way into the brightly lit chamber that represented the forefront of the mind, where I could take control and move about freely for as long as I was allowed.

I became aware of a fishy, metallic odor, one I quickly identified as fish entrails…specifically the heart and liver. A wise move on the part of Tobias…it was an ancient ritual, a sacrifice of flesh that kept the Darkest One, Morningstar, uninvolved and unaware of any activities going on. Good. Better to only have one demonic spirit to worry about…there was no need to invite my old, estranged brother into the mix.

The lad in the chair finally stirred and opened his eyes…rich, expressive, dark eyes that reflected the innocence and pain in his soul. I blinked several times, getting used to this strange body, feeling the beat of a pulse, the rush of breath, the gentle prickling of nerve endings on the skin. A few more breaths, and I felt confident enough to step forward and make my presence known. "They're gone," I said, trying to project a sense of calm through the body's young and breaking voice while at the same time gently flickering through the mind of the young man in front of me and filling his thoughts with peace and healing.

"Who are they?" he asked, eyes still full of fear and uncertainty. He attempted to twist around in his chair as I paced around him to meet his gaze…like a trapped animal trying to keep his eyes always on that which threatens him.

I didn't rightly know how to answer the young innocent's question, and even if I did, I would be unable to tell him the whole truth…revealing the ongoing struggle taking place in the boy's body, a struggle humans mistook for a personality disorder, would only jeopardize the slight advantage I had, would possibly draw the demon back by mere mention of his presence and true nature. So I ignored the question, instead settling for a reiteration of my previous statement. "It's just me now."

Realization battled curiosity in the young man's mind as he came to several rather unsettling conclusions. I felt him debate whether to introduce himself; the letters "S" and "R" raced past my mind's eye before the youth thought better of it and managed to stammer out, "Who…who are you?".

I met his eyes with my own, imbuing my gaze with peace and strength. "I am Raphael," I stated quietly, knowing instantly that this young man would connect my name (or rather, my title, as my true name would be impossible to speak within the confines of a physical body) with the nature of the murders and the Biblical references behind them. I instantly knew everything about him as our eyes met and I read the story of his soul. His name was Spencer Reid. He was brilliant, by human standards. He was in his early twenties, had an eidetic memory, had a love of old literature, and was secretly obsessed with the works of Chaucer. His mother was schizophrenic and institutionalized, he hadn't seen nor heard from his father in years, and he loved the color purple. He was also an FBI agent. All this I knew in a fraction of a fraction of an instant.

Spencer's nose wrinkled as he sniffed the air through his bleeding nostrils. "What's that smell?" he asked, nostrils flaring and crinkling as he observed me in the same manner a cornered and wounded deer eyes the hungry wolf circling it.

Inwardly, I sighed. At least the boy wasn't attempting to leap out of his chair and strangle me. "They're burning fish hearts and livers," I stated softly, becoming acutely aware of how confining this physical form actually was. "It keeps away the Devil". I silently hoped that the scent alone would keep Morningstar at bay…trapped in this fleshly form and weakened by demonic ropes and bonds, I was in no condition to fight him.

Noticing young Spencer's head beginning to droop, I raced to keep the conversation going. Should he once more succumb to unconsciousness, the demon would surely return sooner than I would have liked, and I needed time to think. Nudging his mind with my own, I plucked him back towards the land of the living. "They believe you can see inside men's minds," I remarked mildly, knowing that what "they believe" was actually only what the demon had taught his helpless son to believe, to keep him blinded and obedient.

Spencer seemed both startled, amused, and irritated at my statement. "It's not true. I study human behavior." Again he squirmed, eyes following my every move, every twitch, every breath, hungry for any knowledge he could glean from my behavior. I was sorry to disappoint him, as angels seldom feel the need to adhere to standards of human behavior.

I sighed wearily inside myself as I felt the demon returning. My time in the front of poor Tobias's consciousness was limited, and would soon run out. "I'm not interested in the arguments of men," I said flatly. It was, in a sense, the truth. I had little interest in the misconceptions the human race held towards their more intelligent and gifted individuals. I only worried about "the big picture". If a man was willing to believe that reading a person's body language and habits constituted the ability to read minds, then so be it.

My mind started to go dark as the demon returned, mumbling something about "God's will" to the soul of the frightened boy he dragged along behind him.

Desperate to hold onto the calm and gentle companionship in this cruel place, Spencer cried out, "You don't have to do this! 'Now go, sinners, to your God. There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins'".

I smiled faintly to myself. "Ecclesiastes 7:20," I murmured as my bonds once again tightened and I was thrust back into the darkness of my own private Hell.


	4. Chapter 4

-1The time that passed followed in a blur of light and darkness, pain and peace, stoic calm and blind rage. We murdered again, and I felt sickened at the atrocities this boy's gentle hands were forced to commit. Spencer Reid's fellows were searching for him, this much I was aware of. I could feel the six other presences his soul so strongly felt kinship with, worried and tense, but still so full of hope. And so I bided my time carefully, utilizing my brief moments of lucidity and control to give the suffering young FBI agent just enough of Tobias's drug of choice to help manage his pain and keep him alive (guiltlessly impersonating Tobias in order to disguise my actions) though I detested myself for poisoning his young body just to keep his mind from breaking, and to admonish young Tobias himself of the importance of fighting his father's hideous influence. Together we fought the demon, each passing minute an eternity in the time-free realm of the mind, each passing minute giving Tobias the defiance he needed and Spencer a few more moments of life.

My musings and lessons were eventually interrupted as the demon ran out of patience. "This must end," he snarled, his noseless, lipless face twisted and contorted like the death spasms of a rabid dog. "This little shit's FBI partners are coming for him, and I will not just sit here and let them take me. Not when there's still so much fun to be had with the human population. Oh, I know what you've been telling my boy, Raphael. I know how you're trying to turn him against me. Blood will out, you know. He's mine." Tightening my bonds and chaining me to what passed for a wall, the demon snarled happily. "There, you feathered little shit. Try getting out this time." With that, the beast took control of our shared body, and dragged young Spencer out of the chair and out the door.

As the human saying goes, my blood ran cold as I realized our destination: the cemetery. The demon meant to dispose of the young agent once and for all. The time had come to act. With a feral roar, I threw myself against my bonds, screaming out in holy rage. Blinding light and heat shot through me, as gentle as a soft summer breeze but as invigorating as a mild electric shock. I smiled viciously as my bonds melted away, recoiling and vanishing at the touch of the Almighty. Hurling myself at the demon, I lunged, tackled him, and began to tear away at his mind. "Tobias!" I roared, struggling to keep my place atop the bucking and writhing demon. "Go! Take control and get that agent out of here!"

Tobias rushed to the forefront of our shared consciousness and guided young Spencer Reid through the cemetery, both terrified and newly confident as he searched for a means to escape.

Grinning fiercely, I held the demon down as the two youngsters stumbled through the maze of trees and graves. "Now to exorcise thee, foul fiend," I hissed, the old cadence and rhythm coming back into my voice as I regained my strength. "I shall cut thee from this innocent lamb as one cuts a weed from amongst the flowers, and thou shalt be thrown back into thy master's waiting arms for everlasting torture." I bared my teeth in a hideous parody of a smile, my look more akin to a lion stalking its prey than to any human creature as I prepared to send this vile being back into the Pit.

I was so assured of our imminent victory that I failed to notice the darkness once again seeping into our shared mind, a blacker-than-black shadow that swept over me in a foul, dizzying wave and left me reeling. It instantly sapped what strength I had just regained, so I could do little more than slump helplessly as the demon regained his advantage and bowed before the darkness. Chills raced through me. I realized that this was the culmination of the twisted beast's plan as the darkness took on a hideous and painfully familiar form…the blasphemously beautiful shape of Morningstar, the eldest of all archangels, the scourge of darkness himself fallen from grace and light before time began. The burnt offerings of fish had long since lost their potency as we left the room, and here he stood in all his dark glory, eyes gently mocking me.

Chaos and darkness reigned as Morningstar fed the lesser demon from his own dark energy, allowing the beast to once again gain control of the body. Tobias, the sweet innocent boy, clung desperately to me as his father ordered Spencer to begin digging his own grave. We watched in horror as the now sobbing young agent scooped out shovelfuls of rich, fragrant earth, preparing himself for his death.

Shouts rang out through the dark cemetery grounds, echoing off the trees, and I felt myself smile as I cradled Tobias's young soul. Spencer Reid's fellow FBI team members had arrived, seeking him with an intensity unmatched by the fiercest bloodhounds.

Seizing what would be my final opportunity, I shoved the consciousness of Tobias to relative safety, and launched myself at my fallen brother with a mad yell, fingers curled into claws. As I distracted him, the link between Morningstar and his minion was severed, causing Tobias's father to momentarily lose control of the body.

What happened next was inevitable. Taking advantage of the sudden confusion, Spencer lunged for the pistol still firmly clenched in our hand. A sharp crack split the night air and the body suddenly stopped in its tracks, crumpling to the ground. His aim was true…we had been shot.

Morningstar pulled away, snarling. "This isn't over, Raphael," he hissed. "This world is my domain, as is my right to all sinners. You may have won this round, but there will always be another more competent than the little shit I sent here. There will always be killers." Grabbing the demon by the neck, he vacated the space we shared in the body of Tobias.

I bent to once again cradle Tobias in my arms. "Tobias," I murmured softly, stroking what passed for his face in this mental realm. "Young one, it is over. We have not much time left to us here in this earthly plane, so if you wish to be yourself, really and truly the rightful owner of this body, take control now and truly experience life. 'Tis better to have truly lived for these short moments than to leave this place with the taste of slavery still bitter in your mouth."

Young Tobias Henkel finally stirred. As the primary mind and the original inhabitant of his physical form, he took the full brunt of the pain the gunshot wound was inflicting upon us…I only felt a dim ache in the depths of my own being, reflecting the physical trauma. I kept him tightly clasped in my arms as he took full and rightful control of his body for the first time in months. It took a great deal off effort, but he finally managed to blink as we stared up into the shocked face of Spencer Reid. "You killed him," he stated in wonder, his spirit shining bright at that knowledge, though his body continued to weaken.

"Tobias?" Spencer questioned, tears glistening in the depths of his brown eyes.

Tobias's gaze turned inwards as he looked at me and spoke, both physically and mentally. "Do you think I'll get to see my mom again?" His physical voice finally gave out and he spoke to me directly. "That was a brave thing you did for me, Raphael. I…I don't quite understand why you're here to begin with, but…you're here now, so I might as well ask." He shuddered, his soul quaking with fear. "Am I…am I going to Hell?" He began to sob uncontrollably. "I thought this was what you wanted, what God wanted. I was just so scared and confused and lost and my father kept hitting me and burning me and…"

Sighing, I placed a brotherly kiss upon his head. "No, Tobias, you're not going to Hell. What your father did to you was never your fault. You never asked to be twisted and broken, and you are not accountable for what he turned you into. Have no fear, small one, for you will soon be in the presence of the Lord."

Clutching the boy tightly to my chest, I took control of the dying body one final time and gave Spencer Reid a calm, peaceful stare, letting him know that his struggles were finally over. Then I turned my attention back to the young human in my arms as I felt the body let go of its last fragile ties to this world. "Come, young Tobias Henkel, child of God. Your mother awaits you." Then glory came, and the Light consumed us.


End file.
